CHRONICLE OF THE CORONAVIRUS IN ITALY: “MAZOONY” OF TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY

DOI: http://doi.org/10.33876/2224-9680/2020-1-19/02

Abstract

The article reviews the problem of emergence and transformation of the discourse of the so-called “anointers” (“untore”) during the spread of the coronavirus infection in Italy in winter and spring 2020. Historical analogies with the plague years in 1630 Milan (described by the classical Italian writer Manzoni) are elicited, as well as other epidemiological events of the past where the “anointer” concept was involved. The article exposes the facts that influence the transfer of this definition to various social groups and certain categories of Italy’s and other countries’ populations. The article also tracks the dynamics of the emergence and transformation of the respective discourse fields.

Citation link:

Bakhmatova M. N. (2020). Hronika koronavirusa v Italii: «mazuny» dvadcat' pervogo veka [Coronavirus Chronicle in Italy: Anointers of the XXI Century]. Medicinskaja antropologija i biojetika [Medical Anthropology and Bioethics], 1 (19).

References

• Bakhmatova, M. (2016) Tra Mosca e Verona. Trento.
• Bahtin, M. M. (1990) Tvorchestvo Fransua Rable i narodnaja kul'tura srednevekov'ja i renessansa [Francois Rabelais' creativity and folk culture of the Middle Ages and Renaissance], Moscow: Hudozhestvennaja literatura.
• Cipolla, C. M. (1986) Contro un nemico invisibile. Epidemie e strutture sanitarie nell'Italia del Rinascimento. Il Mulino. Bologna.
• De Martino, E. (1982) Sud e magia. Milano. Ed Feltrinelli.
• De Montaigne, M. (2005) Saggi. Libro I, cap. XXXI. Adelphi.
• Delumeau, J. (1979) La paura in Occidente (secoli XIV–XVIII). La città assediata. Sei. Torino.
• Di Simplicio,  O. (2000)  Inquisizione, stregoneria, medicina. Siena e il suo stato (1580–1721). Il Leccio. Monteriggioni.
• Di Simplicio, O. (2005) Autunno della stregoneria. Maleficio e magia nell'Italia moderna. Il Mulino. Bologna.
• Dollo, C. (1991) Peste e untori nella Sicilia spagnola. Presupposti teorici e condizionamenti sociali. Morano. Napoli.
• Ginzburg, C. (1989) Storia notturna. Una decifrazione del sabba. Einaudi. Torino.
• Grigoriev, A.A. (1986) Iskusstvo i nravstvennost' [Art and morality], Moscow: Sovremennik.
• Grigoriev, A.A. (2002) Vzgljad na russkuju literaturu so smerti Pushkina [A look at Russian literature since the death of Pushkin], Moscow: Jeksmo-Press.
• Levi-Strrausss, C. (1999) Mifologiki. Syroe i prigotovlennoe [Mythologiques. Raw and cooked], Vol. 1, Moscow: Universitetskaja kniga.
• Levi-Strrausss, C. (2000)  Mifologiki. Proishozhdenie zastol'nyh obychaev [Mythologiques. The Origin of Table Manners], Vol. 3, Moscow: Universitetskaja kniga.
• Manconi, F. (1994) Castigo de Dios. La grande peste barocca nella Sardegna di Filippo IV. Donzelli. Roma.
• Manzoni, A. (1955) Obruchennye [Betrothed]. Moscow: Hudozhestvennaja literatura.
• Manzoni, A. (1981) Storia della Colonna Infame. Palermo: Sellerio.
• Pivato, S. (2015) I comunisti mangiano i bambini. Storia di una leggenda. Ed. Il, Mulino.